The Congress party is going to raise the issue of the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in the upcoming Winter Session of the Parliament. On Sunday, party president Rahul Gandhi wrote to respective Congress and Congress alliance governments to pass a resolution in the session to reserve one third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies for women.

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On November 23, Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev had written to all the Congress and alliance CMs to pass the resolution. Following that, Dev also wrote to Gandhi urging his support on the matter.

"The party president's letter is part of the party's efforts for more inclusivity of women in the political space. We will raise the matter in the Parliament, and ask Narendra Modi why has the Bill not being passed all these years. The passage of the Bill was one of the points in the BJP's manifesto in 2014," said Dev.

In his letter, addressed to CMs Capt Amarinder Singh, HD Kumaraswamy, and VK Narayanswamy, Gandhi wrote that India ranks 143rd among 196 countries in terms of the percentage of women in the Parliament. "The lack of adequate representation of women in our polity undermines our democracy and perpetuates existing systemic injustices," Gandhi wrote.

"The Congress and several parties have called on the Prime Minister to ensure the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill and pledged their support. … In order to affirm our support to the passage of the Bill, it will be expedient for the State Assembly to pass a resolution calling for the reservation of one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies for women, in the next session," the letter read.

The legislative assemblies of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh have already passed the resolution.

WHAT’S THE NEED

  • Cong is going to raise the issue of the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the upcoming Winter Session  
  • The Mahila Cong prez said, letter is part of party’s efforts for more inclusivity of women in politics  
  • She also said passage of Bill was one of the points in BJP’s manifesto in 2014